Children – and adults – invited to Tuesday’s Israel Science Day events

Israel Science Day – postponed since March due to the elections and holidays – aims at encouraging young people of all ages to become interested in science.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Dr. Assaf Marom teaches kindergarten students about acids and alkaline substances at a Science Day event (photo credit: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SPACE MINISTRY)
Dr. Assaf Marom teaches kindergarten students about acids and alkaline substances at a Science Day event
(photo credit: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SPACE MINISTRY)
On Tuesday, scientists from around the country will climb down from their ivory towers and visit kindergartens to tell children what a scientist does, and also to show them with fun-filled experiments why it is an exciting profession.
Israel Science Day – postponed from last March due to the elections and holidays – aims at encouraging young people of all ages to become interested in science.
It is being organized by the Science, Technology and Space Ministry and the Education Ministry.
“Children are curious, and the world is a mystery to them,” said Prof. Nurit Yirmiya, a psychologist and the Science Ministry’s chief scientist.
“Their first encounter with a scientist creates a picture of the future and a possible career for them when they grow up.”
The Hop! TV channel will broadcast on Tuesday new segments of Rechov SumSum called “Making Discoveries,” which were produced according to the Education Ministry’s science, math and technology curriculum for youngsters. Rechov SumSum is Israel’s version of Sesame Street.
In addition, events for older children and adults will be presented free at universities, colleges, research institutes and science museums around the country.
“National Science Day has become a tradition in Israel,” said Science Ministry director- general Ido Sharir. “It is a day set aside for curiosity and creative thinking for adults and young people.”
At Tel Aviv University, for example, the lecturers will deliver short presentations on food from various aspects. The zoological and botanical gardens will be open for tours to those who register in advance.
At Rehovot’s Weizmann Institute of Science, labs will be opened for tours and lectures, and a nano-comics exhibition for the whole family will be on show. A play on Albert Einstein will be presented at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem that shows the various aspects of his personality as a physicist, pacifist, Jew and Zionist.
The University of Haifa’s tours, lectures and exhibitions will be open to the public, and visitors will also be able to play games via their smartphones.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba is holding an electro-optics show, including the use of lasers, simulators, photo processing and remote sensing.
The Afeka Academic Engineering College in Tel Aviv will set up a special place for young people, focusing on robotics, energy, materials engineering and language processing.
Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum will have over 10 interactive exhibits at its own free event. The exhibits will include a giant yo-yo and musical bicycles, as well as a race for marbles.